Thing 13: Explore a Tool of Your Choice

Introduction

Image by Matlock

Image by Matlock

Listed below is a "baker's dozen" (or so) of Web 2.0 tools -- by no means representative of all (or even a good bit) that's out there. Finding, experimenting with and evaluating new tools, determining whether they have value for us in creating, organizing, communicating or problem-solving -- without an instructor's explicit guidance -- is an essential 21st Century skill, part of lifelong learning, and certainly the sort of capability we want to foster in our students.

Discovery Exercise

Pick a tool (or two, or more if you are so inclined) below, see what it does and see what you can do with it. Depending on the tool you choose and your particular learning style or worldview, you may do more exploring than experimenting or vice-versa.

While you are exploring and experimenting, consider whether the tool may have a practical application for personal, classroom or professional learning or productivity. Also pay attention to any social aspects of the tool -- is it collaborative, sharable, does it allow comments, discussions, ratings? We will talk more about social features in Web 2.0 in upcoming weeks. (Flickr, which you explored last week, has many social features, including tags, groups and commenting).

Many of these tools are completely free, and all offer at least a free version. Also, most are embeddable in a blog, wiki or webpage. Feel free to experiment with further embedding in our sandbox wiki -- on your existing page, or on a new page!

Think of this "Thing" as focused play. Or think of it as miserable, frustrating work... it's up to you ;)

Jing - http://jingproject.com
Create narrated screencast video tutorials up to 5 minutes each and annotated screenshots. Store videos and images for free at screencast.com or save them on your computer or network.

Many Eyes - http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/"Many Eyes is a bet on the power of human visual intelligence to find patterns." Upload a data set (or use and existing one) to create one of 18 types of interactive visualizations. Browse the gallery to explore existing visualizations. Wordle was developed as part of this powerful IBM-hosted project.

Xtranormal - http://www.xtranormal.com/
"If you can type, you can make a movie!" Use characters, backgrounds, props, sound effects and animation tools to turn your script into an animated movie.

Task

PART 1: Create a blog post telling about your experience, providing a link to the tool you chose to explore. Include any ideas you have for using the tool to support learning or productivity. Also comment on any "social" features you may have noticed and your thoughts about their value. Be sure to include "Thing 14" in your post title.

PART 2: Visit the " Web 2.0 Tool Integration Ideas" page on our Sandbox Wiki. Under your chosen tool, add your ideas for using it to support learning or productivity. These should be brief bullet points, not dissertations. The idea here is to create a collection of ideas that we can all use.